


Connecting the Past and Present

by Reidluver



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, Ten-Year Bazooka, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-08
Updated: 2012-07-10
Packaged: 2017-11-09 11:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/454703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reidluver/pseuds/Reidluver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Tsuna wanted was a little break. Just a little break from his crazy mafia life. Surprisingly—he got his wish, and in a manner so contrary to all the other "help" he's gotten that . . . he actually enjoyed this one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not What You'd Expect

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for the beginning of the Inheritance Arc

Tsuna sighed. He had thought that after the whole incident in the future, things would settle down for a bit and he'd be able to recuperate before some other worldly disaster decided to strike and somehow only _he_ and his Guardians would be able to stop it. Seriously—why did that seem to be the pattern here? How could a world catastrophe hinge on him? He was just Dame-Tsuna, who was too embarrassed to get a date with the girl of his dreams, who was afraid of small dogs, who failed nearly every test, etc.

And speaking of tests, he was currently holed up in his room _(as per Reborn's orders)_ to study for a history exam that happened in two days. Gokudera was teaching him, as per usual, and Yamamoto would be with them but he was currently at baseball practice, having missed so many days when they were in the future.

Tsuna's eyes glazed over as Gokudera furiously scribbled a series of complicated charts that Tsuna knew he'd never understand. The pencil markings and white paper blurred together in his mind and he resumed his previous thoughts.

So, he thought that things would seem like a piece of cake after battling what had to be the world's most dangerous villain ever. But _no_ —the gods continued to torment him and now Tsuna was faced with the decision of a lifetime _and_ he had to deal with a family he had never heard about! They seemed nice enough, but Tsuna felt a little wary of them. Especially Suzuki. She terrified him even more than Hibari because Tsuna knew for a fact that Hibari was more or less on his side. As for Suzuki . . . Tsuna couldn't be too sure. He usually trusted people despite their appearance, but perhaps in response to everything that had happened in the future, Tsuna found himself more suspicious of people in the mafia than he originally was.

But enough of that. What in the world was he going to tell the Ninth? Tsuna really didn't want to be the Vongola Decimo despite everything he'd been through, but it was because of everything that he'd been through that he was hesitant. He felt torn between trying to live a peaceful life and letting down the friends he had made. What if he—

"—and that concludes the Shimabara Rebellion," Gokudera said, bringing Tsuna back to the present. He gazed up at Tsuna with hopeful eyes. "Does that make sense, Tenth?"

Tsuna scrunched up his face and stared at the confusing piece of paper. When his brain made no remarkable discoveries, Tsuna snatched the paper and held it up close to his face, vainly hoping that if he brought it closer to his brain then he'd be able to make better sense of it. After a few minutes he got a headache and Gokudera's scribbles swam in and out of focus.

He moaned and laid his head on the desk. "I can't do it, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna wailed. "I'm still just Dame-Tsuna!"

"Please don't call yourself that, Tenth!" Gokudera pleaded. Once he had the brunette's attention, the bomber flashed him a wide smile. "We'll just have to find another way for you to understand it! There are many different ways to study or understand something, so we just won't stop until we find the way that's best for you!"

Deciding that Gokudera's logic sounded pretty good, Tsuna sighed and nodded. That sent Gokudera into another frenzy as he wracked his brains for a solution to Tsuna's problem. Tsuna resisted the urge to groan and instead settled for just watching the silver-haired boy. A warm smile made its way onto Tsuna's face as he contemplated how far along Gokudera had come from when they first met.

Before, Gokudera would recklessly place himself in between Tsuna and whatever danger they happened to be facing that day, almost as if he were trying to get himself killed. Then during the Ring Battles Tsuna was able to convince Gokudera to abandon the Storm Ring so he could live, and Tsuna couldn't have been more pleased. But Tsuna was even more pleased when Gokudera redefined his definition of being Tsuna's right-hand man in the future. The brown-haired boy couldn't help but feel a bit of parental pride at Gokudera's words. The bomber had come a long way and Tsuna was happy to have been a part of it.

It was obvious to him that Gokudera had grown up with a lot of problems and shortcomings. And although Reborn had told Tsuna about Gokudera's past relationship with his mother, Tsuna knew that was only the tip of the iceberg. After knowing him for so long, it was obvious that Gokudera was a very complex person, and it sometimes pained Tsuna to think about all that might have happened to his friend to make him like that.

There were times Tsuna would lay awake in bed, thinking about what he could do to help the bomber. Tsuna knew that despite what Gokudera said, his relationship with their "Family" that Reborn had created was the most important thing to him. Upon returning to the future, Tsuna had taken to watching Gokudera very closely. He noticed that although Gokudera fought just as loudly with Yamamoto, Lambo, and Ryohei as he always did, there was an underlying fondness that wasn't there before. Tsuna had even caught a glimpse of Gokudera's smile as he watched the others when he thought no one was looking.

It even seemed like their experiences in the future had heightened that feeling, because Tsuna just knew that Gokudera was training harder than before. Try as he might to hide it, Tsuna could see the bruises and band aids that appeared every so often. It was a little alarming at times, but Tsuna knew that this was Gokudera's strange way of expressing his affection, and so he kept quiet about it.

And so after much pondering, Tsuna came to the conclusion that the best he could do for Gokudera would be to continue to smile and send him a few more compliments every now and then.

Gokudera paused in speaking to himself and looked at Tsuna suspiciously. " . . . Tenth? Is something the matter?"

"Hm?" Tsuna blinked. Then he realized he must look really stupid staring at Gokudera like that and his face heated up with a furious blush. "Oh, I—that is . . . um . . . what were you saying?"

It didn't look like Gokudera was properly appeased, but thankfully Tsuna was saved by someone slamming the door open.

"Gyahahahaha! Here comes Lambo-sama!"

On second thought—perhaps he was better off trying to explain himself to Gokudera. Tsuna already knew how this would turn out.

 _Cue Gokudera._ "Shut up, you damn stupid cow! The Tenth is trying to study!"

 _Now Lambo._ "Study? Let me help! Lambo-sama knows a lot more than stupid Stupidera!"

 _The retort._ "Yeah right! You're just a stupid cow who still wears diapers!"

 _Lambo gets embarrassed and figures fighting is the best way to cover it up._ "That . . . that was only once, Stupidera! Lambo-sama wasn't feeling good that day!" Lambo then reached into his hair and started pulling various weapons out. First came the Ten-year Bazooka followed by a few grenades. Lambo tossed aside the bazooka and positioned himself with the grenades, which was actually a rather scary image if one thought about it enough. Here was a five-year-old child who knew how to use a grenade and had an unknown amount of them stashed in his hair. Really, how had Tsuna's life come to this?

 _And now they trash my room and I end up never getting any studying done_ , Tsuna thought to himself with a sigh. He glanced up and sighed again. _And then a Ten-Year Bazooka bullet comes falling down on me and—WHAT?_

Time seemed to slow as the enormous bullet came whizzing towards him almost as if it had a homing device installed in it. Lambo must have accidentally pulled the trigger when tossing the bazooka off to the side.

This was certainly a new development in Tsuna' daily routine, and he could only sit in paralyzed fear as it got closer and closer. Tsuna was never really one to swear, but when the bullet was mere centimeters from his face he uttered the one word that seemed appropriate.

"Shit."

* * *

As Tsuna traveled through the time vortex or whatever it was called, his stomach churned in apprehension and fear. Would things be better upon his return? Were their older counterparts able to put everything back together? Would Tsuna replace his older self in a battle? Or a meeting? How many things could go wrong here?

Too many to count. Tsuna just prayed he ended up somewhere simple and that the Bazooka _actually_ worked this time and he wouldn't be forced to spend months in the future again.

His landing was less than satisfactory. Tsuna landed butt-first on cold, hard cement. After checking to make sure there was no one trying to kill him, Tsuna gingerly picked himself up off the ground and rubbed his painful backside.

It looked like he was in a sort of abandoned alleyway. Tsuna involuntarily shivered at the eeriness of it and the cold breeze that brushed against him. Tsuna spared another second to make sure that there was absolutely no one dangerous near him then rushed towards the street.

There were no familiar landmarks of which to orient himself, and so Tsuna tried to look around for someone who could help him. It looked like it was nearing the end of mid-day, so there were a fair amount of people walking about. There were two women coming his way, and despite the fact that one of them had a small dog _(which appeared very scary to Tsuna)_ he nonetheless gathered up the courage to speak to them. Hopefully they would be able to answer his questions.

" _Così, il mio marito è andato fino a lunedì."_

" _Davvero? Che l'uomo è così impegnati._ _Come pensate?_ _"_

Tsuna's enthusiasm vanished. Could this day get any worse? Tsuna's Hyper Intuition told him that they were speaking Italian, which actually made sense because if his future self was the Vongola Decimo, it was to be expected that he'd visit Italy every so often. Not that it did him any good in this situation. He didn't know any Italian. Oh well—all he'd have to do is wait out the next five minutes and pray that nothing went wrong.

He sighed and started walking, his hands in the pockets of his dark-blue sweatshirt. His figured that the best way to occupy his time would be to see if he could find any of his Guardians. They couldn't be too far off, right? Tsuna couldn't imagine being able to go anywhere by himself without his Guardians knowing first, especially what with the incident with Byakuran and all. Tsuna briefly wondered how everyone reacted once they learned that Tsuna hadn't really died. Would they be furious? Of course they would. He—

Tsuna's thoughts were interrupted when he felt the unmistakable poke of something sharp and metal in his back. He froze at the feeling and mentally swore at his luck.

" _Dammi il tuo denaro!"_

Well, Tsuna certainly wasn't versed in Italian, but he did recognize that "denaro" meant money _(it was the only word that had gotten through during a brief lesson in Italian from Reborn)_ so this was most likely a mugging. Just his luck—he goes to the future in a country where he has no idea what's happening and he gets robbed! Tsuna found himself grateful that Reborn had made it mandatory for him to have his mittens and Dying Will Pills on him at all times. Hopefully he could just give the robber all the money he had on him and there wouldn't be any unnecessary violence. Tsuna was prepared to get away with his flames if he needed to, but the attention it would garner wasn't something he really wanted.

The knife dug a little deeper against his back and Tsuna lifted his arms up slightly in a symbol of surrender. He then slowly turned around so he could more easily give his money to the mugger. Yet when he saw who the person threatening him was, Tsuna couldn't help but let his mouth fall open in shock.

" _Siete mi darà i soldi o mi guarda come un idiota, bastardo?"_

Tsuna could only stare. How . . . what . . . There was a mini-Gokudera growling at him with a knife in his hands. The kid couldn't be any older than ten, and Tsuna was beyond confused. What were the odds that he'd run into a kid that looked just like his friend?

" _Che cosa sta fissando?"_

This just had to be a coincidence. That was the only explanation, right? The Gokudera look-alike pushed the knife against Tsuna's chest and the brunette swallowed.

"Uh . . . I'm really sorry but I don't understand what you're saying." Perhaps if he feigned ignorance with this kid he could get off without having to hand over his money.

The kid _(whom Tsuna now realized was wearing rather dirty clothes and looked a little too thin for his age)_ frowned and looked a little contemplative.

"So you're from Japan?" the kid asked in flawless Japanese.

Tsuna could only gape at the kid. What were the odds? Realizing he should answer, Tsuna nodded. For some reason the boy smiled a little and looked a little . . . hopeful?

"What's your name then?" he asked.

"Uh . . . Mochida," Tsuna said. "Toshinobu Mochida." It wasn't the best cover name, but Tsuna couldn't use his own name or the name of any of his Guardians since they most likely were in the city. That could cause many problems for him.

"Oh." The kid looked a little disappointed.

"Well . . . what's your name?" Tsuna asked. The kid had lowered the knife, but it was high enough to still be considered a threat.

The silver-haired kid gave him a glance over then reluctantly admitted, "Hayato Gok—I mean, Gokudera Hayato."

 _This couldn't be real, could it? I got hit by the Ten-Year Bazooka which means I had to go to the future. And even if I was sent to the past, I'm pretty sure I've never gone to Italy in my life. Even if I did, I would have my parents nearby, right?_ Then Tsuna got an idea. "Hey um . . . Gokudera-kun? What year is it?"

Gokudera gave him a look that clearly said he thought Tsuna was an idiot, but nonetheless answered. "2005."

Tsuna's eyes widened. So that meant he was five years in the past, but as for why he was in Italy he still had no idea. He only hoped that the time frame the Bazooka gave him was relatively the same.

Then the fact that he was dealing with a nine-year-old Gokudera truly hit Tsuna and he mentally freaked. What should he do? Should he run away? Should he try to help Gokudera? Would his mere presence change the future?

Unable to answer his questions, Tsuna then focused all his attention on the younger Gokudera in front of him, who was looking at Tsuna like he was insane. Tsuna's heart clenched as he really took in little Gokudera's appearance. His clothes were ripped and dirty, hair was matted and unruly, and his cheeks were a little sunk in. Tears nearly came to Tsuna's eyes as he realized his five-year younger friend was most likely starving and living in alleyways like the one he had appeared in. Gokudera had only been on his own for a year now, and it didn't look like he was faring very well.

The little Gokudera took a few steps backwards and tightened his grip on the small knife. "Wh-what are you looking at me like that for, weirdo?"

Tsuna blushed slightly as he realized how strange he probably looked at the moment. "I'm uh . . . sorry I just got some dust in my eye or something," he said as he quickly wiped his eyes.

Gokudera didn't look all that convinced. "Um . . . okay. Well—I'll just let you off for now 'cause I doubt you have any real money I can use anyway." He pocketed the knife and started walking away.

In that moment, Tsuna knew that repercussions on the future or not—he had to help Gokudera. Even though they wouldn't meet for another five years, he couldn't live with himself if he let the starving boy leave without trying to help him out. Tsuna rushed forward and grabbed Gokudera's arm. "Hey, wait!"

Gokudera looked up at him in absolute fear and tried to squirm out of his grasp. Tsuna winced as he realized that he was most likely scaring the kid half to death, but if he let go now then Gokudera would take off faster than he could run and it'd ruin his chances.

"Listen, Gokudera-kun—I swear I don't want to hurt you. I just thought you might like some candy." Gokudera stopped squirming for a moment and stared up at Tsuna with disbelieving eyes. "No, really! I'm sorry I don't have any Italian money, but I do have some Japanese candy." When Gokudera continued to stare at him, Tsuna sighed and reached into his sweatshirt pocket. "Look, how about I taste it first, and then you can have it."

Tsuna pulled out a handful of candies _(which, coincidentally were given to him from Gokudera before they started studying)_ and held them out for Gokudera to inspect. Gokudera alternated between looking at Tsuna and then looking at the candy, in which time Tsuna put on his warmest, most trustworthy smile.

Eventually, it seemed like Gokudera's hunger wore out and he nodded. Beaming, Tsuna let go of Gokudera's arm and unwrapped one of the pieces _(which he knew to be one of Gokudera's favorites)_ and popped it in his mouth. He sucked on it for a few seconds then spit it out.

"There . . . see?" Tsuna said as he held out the candy. "It's perfectly safe." After a few seconds of reflection, Gokudera snatched the candy and put it in his mouth. He did so with such a ferocity that Tsuna fought back the tears again as he realized just how hungry Gokudera had to be. He pocketed the rest of the candy for the moment before he had a brilliant idea. It might not work, but he could try.

Tsuna reached into his pant pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and was unable to quiet the small cheer he gave when he realized it was still there. "Hey, Gokudera-kun?" The boy glanced up at him, one cheek puffed out from the candy. "Okay, so I don't know if this will work, but I might be able to buy you a nice big meal. Only thing is that I'll need your help to see if it will work, okay?"

" . . . What's your plan?" Gokudera asked.

"I might be able to use this!" Tsuna said, flashing the golden credit card. It looked like any normal credit card, except for the small Vongola crest in the bottom right-hand corner. Reborn had given it to him upon returning from the future, claiming it was a gift from the Ninth Boss. When asked why, Reborn explained that Tsuna needed to start getting used to the benefits of being a future Boss of the Vongola Family, and that began with the money.

He could go anywhere in the world and the amount charged would instantly be converted to whatever the currency in that particular country used. At the time Tsuna had been freaked out by the power that simple card held and declared he would never use it. Reborn then kicked him and said that he had to keep it anyway. Now he was grateful.

There was no guarantee that it would still work five years earlier, but Tsuna figured he might as well give it a shot.

Gokudera raised an eyebrow. "But you don't even know Italian—how can you have a credit card with Italian money?"

"My uh . . . Italian uncle gave this to me and so um . . . I'm hoping it will work." Tsuna glanced around. "How about we test it out on something? Is there anything around here you'd like?" As Gokudera looked at all the shops around them with a contemplative look on his face, Tsuna couldn't help but smile fondly.

Perhaps he was just getting old, but Tsuna couldn't help but think that this younger Gokudera looked . . . cute. He felt weird for admitting that, but he couldn't deny it. As close as he was to _his_ Gokudera, Tsuna still found the bomber to be a bit scary at times. Not that it was a bad thing though, because he knew that it was just who Gokudera was, but the fact remained. But _this_ Gokudera, this small little kid was—for lack of a better term—adorable. Tsuna's heart ached as he realized his friend most likely wouldn't stay this way for long, because in order to live on the streets he had to act tough.

But Tsuna could give him a little chance of happiness before all that happened. He had to do all he could.

"Can . . . can I have some watermelon?" Gokudera mumbled. His face was bright red and he stared at the concrete.

Tsuna burst into a wide grin and fought the urge to laugh. So, watermelon was one of Gokudera's favorite foods then, huh? "Of course! Whatever you want, Gokudera-kun! Just lead the way." The boy glanced up at him in shock then he gave the tiniest of smiles before taking off. Tsuna followed right behind him and stopped when they reached what Tsuna figured had to be a supermarket.

"All right. Sure hope this works—huh?" A small tug on his sweatshirt made him look down and to his surprise Gokudera was red-faced again. "What is it, Gokudera-kun?" The boy just shook his head and Tsuna knelt down to face him. He followed Gokudera's gaze to see what was making the boy so embarrassed.

It was a young mother with her own small child. She was looking at Gokudera with a bit of a condescending expression. Tsuna gasped as he realized what was wrong with Gokudera and he fixed the woman with the harshest glare he could. It appeared to have worked, because all the color drained from the woman's face and she picked up her child and nearly ran. What Tsuna wouldn't have given to have Reborn see _that!_

With that taken care of, Tsuna refocused his attention to the young Gokudera who looked about ready to cry. "There, there," Tsuna said softly. He licked his thumb and started wiping away some of the dirt on Gokudera's face. "How about once we find out this card works, I'll get you some new clothes and we can get you cleaned up, okay?" Gokudera merely nodded and Tsuna quickly finished cleaning the little boy's face as best he could. Then he ruffled Gokudera's hair in an attempt to tame it. As a final thought, Tsuna took off his dark-blue sweatshirt and put it on Gokudera, taking care to roll up the sleeves so it fit a little better.

"There. How's that?" Tsuna found that the over-sized sweatshirt upped little Gokudera's cuteness meter. Again, he felt a little weird admitting to it because guys just weren't supposed to think those kinds of things _(and then there was the whole issue that this was one of his best friends)_ but Tsuna couldn't deny the truth. The boy just looked so small and cuddly in the sweatshirt, and if the whispered giggles of the passing mothers was anything to go by, then Tsuna's plan was a success.

Gokudera merely shuffled his feet and nodded. "All right, let's go get some watermelon!" Tsuna proclaimed loudly before walking into the store. To his surprise, he heard the quick shuffling of feet and then someone tugged on his shirt. Tsuna glanced down to see a blushing Gokudera who reached for his hand. Tsuna merely smiled and took the smaller hand in his.

As they made their way over to the fruit and vegetable section, Tsuna couldn't help but feel a little giddy. He had always liked hanging out with younger kids because they (generally) didn't see him as Dame-Tsuna and treated him like a normal person. But lately, the only kids he hung out with were Lambo and I-pin, and while the young girl was much easier to deal with, Tsuna couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by her fighting prowess. He suddenly had an urge to pick Gokudera up and carry him around, but seeing as how Tsuna was rather short to begin with it probably wouldn't be that great of an idea. Gokudera wasn't a five-year old shrimp. That, and he might frighten Gokudera away.

Luckily, there weren't many people shopping at this time and so Tsuna was the only one in line. He gulped as he scanned the card, hoping it would work. Once Tsuna figured it asked for the pin, he nervously punched it in, all the while praying that it would work out. To his relief it did.

" _Grazie e buona giornata,"_ the woman said. Tsuna merely nodded and left the store with an excited Gokudera right at his side.

"Thanks a lot, Mochida!" Gokudera said as they sat down on a nearby bench. Tsuna smiled and then used Gokudera's knife to split the halved watermelon into thirds. He took one for himself and told Gokudera to eat the other two. The little boy looked a little surprised at this, but quickly devoured the first one before Tsuna had even finished four bites.

"Uh . . . aren't you worried about the seeds?" Tsuna said. "I've heard that if you swallow them a watermelon will grow inside you." He nearly shivered at the thought. Ever since he was told that he took extra care to make sure he never swallowed any seeds.

Gokudera looked at him skeptically. "But that's stupid! It's impossible for a seed to grow inside your stomach because of the acid and not to mention the fact that a seed needs nutrients from soil and water and sun to grow."

Tsuna's eyes widened. So Gokudera was this smart even at _this_ age? It made Tsuna feel a little embarrassed actually. Instead he chose to laugh it off. "You're right—I was just trying to trick you, I guess."

"Hmph." Gokudera reached for the second one, took a large bite, then paused.

"Gokudera-kun? Is everything all right?" Tsuna glanced down at his own watermelon. Did it taste funny? Had it gone bad? It looked perfectly normal, but Tsuna wouldn't put it past himself to buy a spoiled watermelon.

Just as he was about to adopt one of the older Gokudera's principles and smash his head against something, Tsuna felt something hard and sticky hit his cheek. He shrieked in surprised and nearly fell off the bench.

To his surprise Gokudera erupted in giggles. Tsuna reached up and found—a black watermelon seed? He glanced back at Gokudera who took another bite and spat at him again. This time Tsuna found two black seeds on his forehead and Gokudera laughed even harder. A warm feeling washed over Tsuna as he listened to the young boy's laughter. He knew it was cliché, but it sounded so pure and innocent.

It was at that moment that Tsuna came to the realization that he had never heard Gokudera laugh before. Like— _really_ laugh. Sure, he had heard him laugh when someone made a fool of themselves or got hurt, but he never heard Gokudera laugh so freely. Tsuna then decided it would be his mission to get Gokudera to laugh once he returned to his time.

But now there was some payback to be done. Tsuna quickly took a bite of his own watermelon and separated the seeds from the actual fruit, then took aim. To his delight, they all landed on Gokudera's face. The young boy squealed in delight and jumped off the bench. He dramatically pointed a finger and Tsuna and declared, "Time to die, Mochida-nii!" It then turned into an all-out war.

Tsuna was able to land a fair amount of seeds on Gokudera but he was no match for Gokudera's accuracy. All of his seeds landed directly on Tsuna's face, causing him to spend a lot of their time fighting just brushing them all off.

Once they had no more seeds to spit, the two of them sat back down on the bench to catch their breath. "Well that was fun, huh?" Tsuna said, turning to look at the younger Gokudera. The boy smiled then glanced down at the sweatshirt.

He glanced back up at Tsuna in fear. "Um . . . Mochida-nii? I um . . . got some watermelon juice on your sweatshirt." Tsuna followed the boy's gaze and sure enough there was a trail of juice that must have dribbled down his chin. And now the boy looked ready to cry.

"It's okay, Gokudera-kun. I'm not going to get mad," Tsuna said. He smiled and picked up part of the bunched up sweatshirt sleeve and used it to wipe off some of the watermelon juice on Gokudera's face. The little boy blushed in embarrassment, then reached up and brushed the sleeve against Tsuna's face.

Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise and Gokudera quietly said, "You had some on your face, too."

The older boy's face turned beet red. "And here I was trying to act all cool in front of you," he mumbled.

Gokudera giggled. "I still think you're cool, Mochida-nii." For some reason, Tsuna's chest felt all warm and it was hard to stop the wide grin that appeared on his face. The only thing he wished was different would be to hear his real name be used, but Tsuna knew that could be disastrous.

Tsuna jumped off the bench and stretched. "Well, Gokudera-kun—how about we go and get you cleaned up now? We can go to a hotel and rent a room." The little boy nodded and reached up to take Tsuna's hand again. "Now, I'm gonna need your help with the receptionist, okay?" Gokudera nodded. "We're going to rent a room for the night, so be sure to tell them that."

As Gokudera led him to the nearest hotel, Tsuna asked him questions about his favorite things, being careful to steer around anything relating to his family. Tsuna did his best to log away each answer in his mind, in the hopes that it would help him later in his interactions with the older Gokudera.

It was actually rather hard to get his Gokudera to talk about himself. Whenever Tsuna tried to ask him a question, Gokudera would get flustered and try to evade it, instead directing it at Tsuna. Now he was presented with a perfect opportunity and Tsuna wasn't going to waste it.

Getting the hotel room wasn't as bad as Tsuna thought it would be. The receptionist gave him a bit of an odd look seeing as how he had a little child order it for him, but that look was gone when she was overcome with Gokudera's cuteness. She gushed over him and even handed him a small lollipop. When Tsuna handed over the credit card, the little Gokudera sent him a small smirk and winked. Tsuna sighed and ruffled the boy's hair, giving his own smirk in return. It seemed Gokudera was quite the schemer even at this age. When talking to the receptionist, Gokudera had adjusted his voice so it sounded more baby-like, and he puffed out his bottom lip every so often. The woman never stood a chance.

As they made their way up to their room, Gokudera filled him in on their cover story. "Mochida" was Gokudera's cousin who was visiting from Japan for a few days with his father. Mochida's dad was currently shopping at the moment, and he had instructed the boys to go and get a hotel room. Tsuna had to admit it was a good cover story.

The room they were in was much nicer than any hotel Tsuna had ever stayed at, and he briefly wondered just how much the room cost. But seeing as how it wasn't his money he couldn't really care. When they walked into the bathroom, Tsuna suddenly became rather self-conscious.

"Um . . . you know how to take a shower, right?" he asked sheepishly. Gokudera gave him one of those looks again.

"Of course I do! I'm nine you know!"

Tsuna laughed nervously. "Right! Of course—silly me!" He gave a sigh of relief. Normally he wouldn't have any qualms about helping children bathe _(he did it all the time with Lambo and I-pin_ ) but seeing as how this was the younger version of his best friend . . . that would definitely get a little awkward.

"Well—while you're in the shower I'll work on fixing the sweatshirt, okay?" Gokudera nodded and Tsuna pulled the sweatshirt up and over Gokudera's head. Things were silent for a while, with the only noise being the steady rush of water from the showerhead behind the closed curtain. Tsuna busied himself with getting the stain wet and scrubbing it with soap. To his delight he was able to get nearly all of it out. Good thing the sweatshirt was such a dark color. Once he was done with that he took the hair dryer and set about drying it.

He was basically done when younger Gokudera emerged from the shower, already fully clothed. "Look, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna said. He held up the sweatshirt proudly. "We were able to get it out in time." Gokudera looked rather relieved. Tsuna then took in Gokudera's appearance and beckoned him over.

"How about you let me dry your hair?"

The small boy quirked an eyebrow at Tsuna and eyed the hair dryer with veiled apprehension.

"Don't worry! It's not going to bite," Tsuna said with a laugh. "It's getting late and I don't want us walking around with your hair all wet. You might get a cold." It took a little more coaxing, but eventually the nine-year-old Gokudera walked over and let Tsuna dry his hair.

A few minutes later, the silver hair was all dry _(and_ _probably_ _much cleaner than it had been for a while)_ and Tsuna ruffled it teasingly. "I like your hair, Gokudera-kun. It's nice and soft." He smirked as Gokudera sent him a distasteful look.

"I'm not cute," he said with a pout. Tsuna bit back the urge to laugh.

"I never said you were cute." _Even though he was._ "In fact, if I had to say—you're hideous. Absolutely disgusting," Tsuna teased as he lightly tickled Gokudera. The little boy shrieked and giggled against the torture, then to Tsuna's surprise the little boy pounced on _him_ and soon the attacker was the attacked.

Tears came to Tsuna's eyes and he shrieked as he was tickled relentlessly. How was little Gokudera so strong? "Bwahahahah! Please—stop! Goku—I can't—stop—GOKUDERA!" Thankfully he was released but the boy looked a little too smug to Tsuna.

"Geez," he sighed, settling into a more comfortable position on the floor. "I try to help you and this is the thanks I get?" He had meant it as a tease, but apparently Gokudera didn't take it that way. The little boy looked at Tsuna in horror and backed away a bit before bowing while still on his knees.

"I-I'm so sorry, Mochida-san! I didn't mean . . . I wasn't—" Tsuna's eyes widened at the small tears that hit the bathroom tile and he quickly scrambled over to the little Gokudera.

"Hey," Tsuna said softly. He placed a hand under Gokudera's chin and directed the fearful boy's gaze to himself. "I was just teasing—I didn't mean any of it. I guess I wasn't clear so . . . I'm really sorry."

Gokudera sniffled and rubbed his eyes with a small fist. "R-Really?" Tsuna nodded. "So . . . so we're still . . . friends?"

"Of course," Tsuna said. He wiped away the remaining tears and pulled the little Gokudera into a hug. "You're my very special friend." As Gokudera hugged him back, Tsuna's heart ached yet again. It _hurt_ to know that even at this age Gokudera was so desperate to have friends. Part of him wanted to stay here forever and shield his younger friend from all the hurt and grief that was yet to come. It was impossible though, so he had to make the best of the time he did have.

"Um . . . Mochida-nii?" Gokudera asked as they pulled apart. "Why . . .why are you being so nice to me?" He looked up at Tsuna with those big, green eyes of his and Tsuna could see the justifiable confusion in them.

Tsuna sighed and ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair. How was he going to explain this? _Because you'll become my best friend in five years and I want to give you some happiness before everything gets much worse?_

"Well . . . let's just say you remind me of someone very dear to me," Tsuna said.

"Really? Who?"

Tsuna smiled and ruffled Gokudera's hair. "My best friend," he said softly.

Gokudera gazed up at him in awe, and Tsuna fought the urge to laugh when he saw those infamous puppy-dog eyes. _(They were more potent at this age)_ He was surprised when Gokudera gave him a quick hug.

"And you're _my_ best friend, Mochida-nii!" Tsuna fought very hard not to laugh at the irony of the situation.

"So are you," Tsuna said as he ruffled Gokudera's hair once more. "All right—let's go get you some new clothes and then dinner, okay? I know I'm starving." Gokudera enthusiastically agreed and he rushed towards the door. Tsuna stayed behind to turn off the bathroom light, but paused when he saw the still drying sweatshirt. He picked it up and fingered the fabric, then laid it back down. He had many more at home and this could keep Gokudera warm.


	2. Facing the Repercussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm well aware I've blatantly ignored time zones, but bear with me.

About an hour later, they were finally seated at a restaurant that Tsuna had already forgotten the name of. Gokudera helped with the translations once again, using the same cover story he used on the receptionist. Unfortunately, their waiter wasn't as easily swayed at Gokudera's antics as the receptionist had been, but once Tsuna angrily flashed the credit card at him the waiter shrugged and gave them their menus.

"Tch. Asshole," Gokudera muttered.

"Language," Tsuna chided as he lightly flicked Gokudera's forehead.

"Whatever. Here, let me help you decide."

They spent the next five minutes going over the menu until Tsuna decided on what he wanted. He hadn't had that much experience with Italian food, so he relied partially on Gokudera's suggestions. Eventually, he decided on the _Shrimp and Crab Tortelli Romana_. He already knew he liked seafood, so he figured this was the best way to start.

After they placed their order, Tsuna took a moment to inspect the young Gokudera. He looked more at ease in public now that he had clean clothes on. Tsuna had nearly gone overboard on buying clothes for the small boy, knowing that this was the only time Gokudera would be able to get them before he starting doing hits for various Mafia families.

While at the stores, Tsuna was unable to fight back a fond smile as Gokudera displayed his rather interesting choice in apparel. It appeared he _really_ didn't like the suit and shorts that he had been forced to wear before, and so when Tsuna assured him he could choose whatever he wanted, Gokudera looked like Christmas had come early.

Then on their way to the restaurant they passed by a bank and Tsuna got a brilliant idea. He dragged Gokudera to one of the outside kiosks and with his help, withdrew €150 which he then gave to the boy once they were out of range of the cameras. Tsuna had been very careful to position himself just right so Gokudera wasn't seen.

This was one of the times he was truly grateful for his Hyper Intuition. He wasn't exactly sure if the Vongola family would notice that much money being drawn from their account or even if it _was_ a lot, but he did know that he couldn't have Gokudera connected to it or they might come after him. It was fine if they saw Tsuna, because they'd never be able to find him.

And so, they were now sitting together at a nice looking restaurant with three small bags of clothes for Gokudera and €150 in the boy's pockets, as well as a hot meal coming their way and a warm place for Gokudera to spend at least the night. All in all, Tsuna felt rather proud of what he had been able to accomplish.

Once their food had arrived and they had spent a few minutes filling their hungry stomachs, Tsuna knew he had to break the bad news. His Hyper Intuition was telling him that he didn't have much time left. He cleared his throat.

"Listen . . ." Gokudera glanced up from his fettuccine and Tsuna swallowed hard. "Um . . . the thing is Gokudera-kun . . . as much fun as I've had today, I—I'm probably not going to stay here for much longer." Tsuna tightly grasped the napkin that laid in his lap at Gokudera's expression. The little boy looked shocked, hurt, but worst of all—resigned, as if he expected this to happen.

"It . . . it's okay, Mochida-nii," Gokudera said softly. He glanced up at Tsuna and tried to smile. "I understand."

Tsuna could practically hear the thoughts going through Gokudera's head. "Hey—listen to me," he said sternly as he grasped Gokudera's tiny hand. "I'm not like everyone else. I'm not leaving you because I want to. If I could have my way I'd stay with you forever . . . but things just don't work out that way. I'm _not_ abandoning you."

Tears welled up in Gokudera's big green eyes and Tsuna pulled him close as the little boy trembled with tiny sobs. "And besides," Tsuna said as he ran his hand comfortingly through the silver locks, "I'll meet you again in the future, so can you wait for me?" He felt bad for misleading Gokudera like that, but in a way he was sort of telling the truth, right? Tsuna knew it was wrong of him to make promises that couldn't be kept, but in his defense, hopefully that expectation would turn out to be some type of motivator or something. The brunette could only hope.

Gokudera sniffed and pulled away from Tsuna. "Of course, Mochida-nii! I'll always wait for you."

Tsuna laughed as he ruffled Gokudera's hair. "Well that's good! It makes me very happy. Oh, and Gokudera-kun? I know that I'm an exception and I'm sorry for misleading you, but you should _never_ accept food from strangers or let them take you places unless you know them very well."

He felt bad telling the small boy to be wary of everyone he ran into and fervently prayed that he didn't end up being the cause of Gokudera's cynicism towards other people—but there was no way he was going to misguide Gokudera into thinking that everyone would be as nice as him. He couldn't live with himself if something bad happened to Gokudera because of that.

To his surprise, Gokudera looked a little offended. "Of course I know that, dummy! _Everyone_ knows you shouldn't accept anything from strangers!"

"Well, then . . . why did you trust me?" Now that he thought about it, Tsuna was actually rather astonished at how easily Gokudera just followed him. He had been so concerned with helping Gokudera that he didn't really notice before, but why?

With a deep blush, Gokudera glanced down at his hands. "Um . . . I just—you . . . I-I've never met anyone as . . . as nice as you and I just . . . I just felt really safe around you, that's all!"

Tsuna blinked in surprise at the admission but couldn't stop the wide grin that appeared on his face. "Well, that's good to hear. I feel safe around you too, Gokudera-kun. Now—you up for dessert?

* * *

Now with their stomachs properly filled, Tsuna and the younger Gokudera went on a leisurely walk. They ended up staring at the sunset as they sat down on a bench in a park. Gokudera had dozed off a few minutes ago and Tsuna merely sat there with his arms wrapped around the sleeping boy. He glanced down at Gokudera and sighed. All he had were a few minutes left, so it was time to say goodbye.

With great reluctance he gently shook the little boy. "Gokudera-kun? Hey, Gokudera-kun—I need to tell you something."

"Huh?" Gokudera yawned and rubbed his eyes. "What is it, Mochida-nii?"

"I'm going to be leaving in just a little bit," Tsuna said as he brushed aside Gokudera's bangs. "I wanted to say goodbye to you before I did."

Gokudera looked crestfallen. "Do you have to leave so soon?" Tsuna winced at the expression but he had to remain firm.

"Yes, I do," he said slowly. "Believe me—it's not like I want this to happen." They both stood up off the bench and Tsuna knelt so he was eye level with Gokudera. He wiped away Gokudera's tears and tightly grasped the little boy's shoulders.

"Before I leave, I want you to listen to me _very_ carefully," Tsuna began. Gokudera fervently nodded and gazed at Tsuna as if he were about to divulge the world's greatest secrets. "I want you to know that you are a wonderful person, and no matter what anyone says or does to you I don't want you to _ever_ doubt yourself. Things are going to be hard, but you have a strong heart and you must remember to never give up. My best friends are not quitters, you understand?"

"Yes, Mochida-nii! I promise to never give up!" He lifted a hand in salute and grinned at Tsuna. The older boy laughed and pulled Gokudera into a tight hug.

He pulled away and gave Gokudera a light kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Gokudera-kun. Never forget that. And if you keep fighting and never give up, I promise you'll find friends who care about you." They stayed like that for a few seconds longer, each of them overcome with emotion, until Tsuna disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Young Gokudera just stared in disbelief at the now empty space in front of him. How did . . . what was . . .

He gasped as he realized what must have happened. He never thought it was possible, but the fact remained that Mochida had disappeared just before his eyes. The little boy had read about instances where this sort of thing happened, so there was only one logical explanation.

"UMAs are real!"

* * *

Tsuna coughed as the smoke dissipated. A mournful frown made its way onto his face but he didn't have much time to be sad because someone barreled into him.

"Ooof!"

His head smacked against something hard and wooden. Tsuna's vision swam in and out of focus for a while. Hearing worked just fine though.

"Tenth! I'm so happy you're back! Well—you never really left because your younger self was here but it wasn't really _you_ and once the five minutes was up and you weren't back yet and then it turned into hours and I was really worried and I didn't know if you were safe or not and—"

"It's all right, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said. "I'm perfectly fine but . . . my head kind of hurts." Tsuna regretted the words the instant they left his mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Tenth!" Gokudera quickly backed away from Tsuna like being too close burned him and he started slamming his head against the ground. "I deeply apologize for hurting you! I was just so relieved to see you returned and—" He was stopped by Tsuna's hands on his shoulders, preventing him from hurting himself even further.

"It's all right, Gokudera-kun. You don't have to apologize." Tsuna glanced around to discover they were still in his room. "How did things with my younger self go?"

Gokudera cringed at that. "Well, Tenth . . . he was kind of scared of me at first so I disguised myself with one of your hats and put my glasses on. Then I got him some snacks from downstairs and we played video games for most of the time. After a while he got tired and took a nap on the bed. He had just woken up when you came back."

The brunette nodded and let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't really had too much time to think about what happened on this end, but since Gokudera was there he shouldn't have had anything to worry about. Tsuna took a good look at his silver-haired friend and for a moment, the nervous fourteen-year-old was replaced by the happy nine-year-old he had just spent the afternoon with. Suddenly, Tsuna was seized with a crazy idea. He had no idea why, but he knew that he wanted to do it.

"Come with me, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna said as he grabbed the other's hand. "I've got an idea!" And so he ended up half-dragging a bewildered and flustered Gokudera down the stairs and into the kitchen. Thankfully his mother was there.

"Mom! Do we have any watermelon?"

"Huh? Tsu-kun! There you are! I've been wondering where you've been all afternoon!" she chided. "You left Gokudera-kun and his cousin in your room—"

"I'll explain later," Tsuna said. "Do we have any watermelon?"

"Hmm . . . I think so. Lambo-kun wanted some the other day so I bought a big one . . ." Nana opened the refrigerator door. "Ah! Here we go! There's only half left, but—"

"That's perfect! Thank you, mom!" Tsuna grabbed one of their shopping bags _(his mother had recently become obsessed with being environmentally friendly—hence the shopping bags),_ put the watermelon in it, then grabbed a large knife and threw it in as well. "Come on, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna said as he bolted out the door. Gokudera was right at his heels, but it was obvious he was extremely confused. What had gotten into the Tenth to make him so . . . enthusiastic? And what was with the watermelon anyway?

Tsuna didn't stop running until they reached Namimori Park. The brunette was panting from the exertion but he ran just a little further until they reached an unoccupied bench.

"Tenth . . . can you please tell me what's going on?" Gokudera feared that something had happened to his beloved Tenth while in the past. Where was Reborn when you needed him?

"Phew!" Tsuna collapsed on the bench, panting hard. "I just . . . thought we'd have some . . . fun together as a . . . way to thank you for . . . looking after my younger . . . self." He then pulled the watermelon out of the bag and started to cut it.

"Here, let me do that, Tenth!" Gokudera said quickly. "You just catch your breath, okay?"

Tsuna nodded. "Sounds like a good . . . idea. Please cut it into four pieces, Gokudera-kun."

The bomber did as instructed, taking care to cut them as perfectly as he could. Ideally, he would have liked to use a ruler to do so, but alas it was back at his apartment.

Tsuna watched Gokudera meticulously cut the watermelon and was unable to hold back a smirk. His friend really was something else.

"There, Tenth! All done!" Gokudera presented the cut watermelon with childish glee.

"It looks great, Gokudera-kun. Please take one," Tsuna said as he himself reached for a quarter slice. The silver-haired boy looked a bit surprised but nonetheless obeyed. Things were silent between them for a few moments as they just sat there eating their watermelon. Finally, Gokudera couldn't take the silence any longer and turned towards Tsuna.

"Tenth, wh—" To his surprise, three small, wet and sticky things landed on his face. He yelped and jumped to his feet, his hand already in a defensive position, ready to ignite the flames on his rings should the need arise. His plans were stopped when he heard the Tenth's laughter.

"I—I'm sorry, Gokudera-kun but I . . . you looked so funny and it—"

Since the Tenth wasn't alarmed, Gokudera slowly reached up and wiped the three foreign objects off his face. They were . . . watermelon seeds? Gokudera raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked back at the Tenth. "What—"

 _Splat_. Two more landed on his shirt and Gokudera stared at the Tenth in disbelief. What in the hell was going on here?

"Got you again, Gokudera-kun!" The bomber couldn't take it anymore.

"Tenth—what's wrong with you? Did that stupid cow somehow switch bodies with you? If so, I know of some shops that have just the right supplies for an exorcism!" He rushed forward and knelt in front of his boss.

"I won't rest until I've saved you, Tenth!" Gokudera declared boldly.

Realizing he was getting nowhere, Tsuna took a deep breath and sighed. "Gokudera-kun . . . I promise I haven't gone insane, and no—I am not being possessed by Lambo." He placed a hand on Gokudera's shoulder. "I just thought that . . . after all the battles and everything we've been through that well—we deserved a little break. I thought that this would be a fun way, since I know Gokudera-kun likes watermelons."

Gokudera's eyes widened and he blushed. "You . . . know I like watermelons? How?"

"Secret," Tsuna teased. Mentally, he was rather astonished at his boldness. Normally he wouldn't be this forward with Gokudera. Sure, he had acted like this with the younger version, but that's because he wasn't as frightening as the older one. But once he returned to the present, Tsuna was faced with the realization that his Gokudera was exactly the same as the five-year younger version; so eager to prove himself with his only real objective in life to be to accepted, loved, and wanted. The only difference was that his Gokudera was better at hiding it.

And Tsuna wanted to make that child smile.

"Come on, Gokudera-kun! You can't tell me you're chicken!" Tsuna leapt off the bench and pointed a finger at his friend. "Time to die, Gokudera-kun!" He then immediately took a large bite out of his watermelon and focused on separating the seeds, so he didn't notice the strange look gloss over Gokudera's face. If he did, he might have decided to be a bit more careful with his wording.

Eventually, Tsuna was able to coax his apprehensive friend into abandoning restraint. The two of them dashed around the park, spitting watermelon seeds this way and that. Tsuna was beyond pleased to notice that all the worry lines that had seemed to grow in number since their arrival from the future on Gokudera's forehead were gone. Now the Storm Guardian was acting more his age and his strange qualms about possibly hurting Tsuna with mere watermelon seeds was gone. They were simply two friends having a great time together.

Once they ran out of seeds, the two of them came together in front of the bench. They laughed and recounted their battle while brushing the seeds off one another.

"That was really amazing, Tenth!" Gokudera gushed, flicking away the last of the seeds in Tsuna's hair.

The brunette giggled. "You're no match for Mochida-nii!" Tsuna immediately covered his mouth in horror, but the damage had already been done. Gokudera was staring at Tsuna in absolute shock.

He took a few steps backward and fell over, but he continued to stare up at Tsuna with an odd sort of shock and terror. Tsuna wanted nothing more than to be able to retract his words and write them off as nothing, but the dawned realization on Gokudera's face was all too apparent. He couldn't take back his words now.

But what to do, what to do? He hadn't meant for that to slip out! He had just been so focused on keeping his cover as Mochida with the younger Gokudera earlier that it just . . . happened. Why oh why did he choose the same activity? Seriously, why didn't he ever use his brain? Tsuna had absolutely no—oh crap! Gokudera was actually _crying!_ The tears flowed down his face and Gokudera covered his mouth. He looked like he was going to be sick.

For the second time that day, Tsuna itched to be able to bang his head against something. A frustrated growl threatened to be released but he knew it would just bring about more problems. Why had things turned out so wrong? All he wanted was for Gokudera to smile and laugh more, but it looked like his plan had horribly backfired.

Tsuna knelt down on the ground and slowly crawled over to Gokudera. "Look . . . I just—I didn't . . . Gokudera-kun, I—"

"So . . . so it was really you then?" Gokudera asked, his voice muffled by his hand. "That's where you were today? I wasn't visited by an UMA?"

"Yes, I—" Tsuna frowned. "UMA?" He gasped as he realized what must have happened. Oh please no—was _he_ to blame for Gokudera's strange obsession with the supernatural? Tsuna nearly wanted to die right there.

"All this time . . . all this time I thought that the UMA was trying to tell me something," Gokudera continued, his voice shaky as he cried. "Then when I met you, I-I thought that you were the one who'd be my friend just like the UMA promised, but I wanted to test you first, and . . . and then you showed me your kindness and I just . . . _it was you all along!"_

Tsuna grunted as all the air was forced out of his lungs when Gokudera slammed into him. For a brief second, Tsuna had a horrifying thought that Gokudera was going to hurt him for tricking him like that, but that train of thinking died immediately when he realized the bomber was sobbing in his arms, Gokudera's own tightly wrapped around Tsuna's waist.

Gokudera said nothing for a few minutes, too overcome by his emotions. Feeling incredibly awkward, guilty, and a little bit confused, Tsuna nevertheless did his best to comfort his friend. He made gentle soothing sounds and brushed his fingers through the silver hair.

"Heh, your hair is still as soft as ever, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna just barely escaped having his head severed when Gokudera's head sprung up. The silver-haired boy's face was bright, _bright_ red and Tsuna could practically feel the heat on his own face.

"U-um . . . yeah, I-I guess so," Gokudera sniffed. He leaned back to a kneeling position so he wasn't sprawled out all over Tsuna and furiously rubbed his eyes.

Tsuna bit his lip. "Look . . . Gokudera-kun, I—I never meant to deceive you, I just—"

"Huh?" Gokudera glanced up at him in genuine confusion. "What are you talking about, Tenth?"

Now Tsuna was confused. "What . . . what do you mean what am I talking about? What are _you_ talking about?"

"I'm not angry at you, Tenth." Tsuna could only stare at Gokudera incredulously.

"You're not?"

Gokudera shook his head. "Of course not, Tenth! In fact I'm really . . . really uh—grateful." The bomber rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and his cheeks heated up in embarrassment. "You see—um . . . whenever I was going through a hard time or w-was depressed because . . . because um—I was kicked o-out of an-another F-Family . . ."

Recognizing Gokudera's difficulty, Tsuna reached out and lightly touched Gokudera's knee with a small nod for him to continue. Gokudera looked surprised at first then gave Tsuna a small smile.

"Um—yeah, so whenever that happened . . . I remembered what you told me about never giving up and—and so I didn't." Gokudera gulped and leaned forward, grabbing Tsuna's shoulders. "And some days, the only thing that kept me going was your promise that I'd meet you again someday and—and your pr-promise that I would f-find friends who cared about me!"

The tears fell freely once again down his face and he buried his face into Tsuna's shoulder. The brunette was unable to keep a few tears from escaping as well and rested his face against Gokudera's hair. He felt . . . really happy to know that he had been able to do so much for Gokudera. True, he never knew his words would have _that_ much of an impact, but knowing it did made him all giddy inside.

He—Dame-Tsuna—did something helpful, and without any Dying Will Pills or Reborn. It was moments like these that Tsuna felt made life worth it.

A few minutes later, Gokudera had gotten himself under control and leaned back on his knees. He had a hard time looking Tsuna in the eyes, no doubt embarrassed by his actions. Tsuna merely smiled and reached out to wipe away Gokudera's tears.

"I still mean every word, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said softly.

"Th-thanks," Gokudera chuckled, rubbing his eyes against the back of his hand. Then he bit his lip and glanced at Tsuna with a sheepish grin. "And . . . and I uh—always w-wanted to thank you for what you did for me and um—" Gokudera blushed a light pink, then to Tsuna's surprise, he leaned forward and lightly kissed Tsuna on the forehead. When he pulled back he averted his eyes. "I-I love you, too . . . Ts-Tsu—" He took a deep breath. " . . . Tsuna-nii."

Tsuna's face split into an enormous grin and his chest swelled with warmth. Then he sprung forward and tackled Gokudera to the ground. The silver-haired teen let out a surprised yelp, but as Tsuna buried his face into Gokudera's chest, the bomber was unable to prevent a wide smile from breaking out on his face. He tried to awkwardly sit up and then wrapped his arms around his most precious person—the one who truly changed his life for the better.

Far off in the distance was a small figure who set down his green binoculars with a satisfied smirk.

* * *

Tsuna returned home late that night in high spirits. Once they had stopped being all mushy like girls, the two of them had a lot of fun just talking and playing at the park. Because of all that had been going on with the mafia in the Ring Battles, then the whole ordeal in the future—they hadn't really had much of a chance for a break. But for this afternoon at least, they were able to act like kids again. Part of Tsuna wished things would just stay like this, but he wasn't stupid.

He knew that come tomorrow he'd have to face Reborn again, he'd have to think about his answer to the Ninth, he'd have to deal with the Shimon family, he'd have to go back to school, Gokudera would go back to calling him Tenth and disregard his own safety for Tsuna's _(though Tsuna hoped this incident would soften that zeal),_ but . . . there was no way Tsuna would trade this afternoon for anything.

"Hey, Reborn," Tsuna said as he collapsed on his bed. Great day or not—he was exhausted!

The Arcobaleno was seated in one of his specialty-made chairs on top of Tsuna's computer desk. "You're home late," he said. "And you haven't studied enough for your history test."

Tsuna let out a moan. " _Reborn!_ " he whined. "I'll study more tomorrow, okay? I'm really, _really_ tired right now." Despite the fact that part of him didn't care what Reborn did to him, Tsuna couldn't help but cringe slightly out of anticipation for the inevitable kick to his head. Surprisingly, it didn't come.

Reborn let out a small sigh. "Well, I suppose since you were strengthening the bonds within your Family I can let you go just this once."

It took a few seconds for Reborn's statement to sink in. _"Huh?"_ Tsuna shot up and stared at Reborn incredulously. Did he hear what he thought he heard?

Apparently Reborn didn't notice Tsuna's shock. He grabbed his empty coffee cup and stood up. "Oh, and by the way, Dame-Tsuna, take this." Reborn held out a small slip of paper.

"Huh? What is this, Reborn?" Tsuna bent over and pulled the paper out of the Arcobaleno's tiny fingers. "Four numbers? What's this for?"

The Sun Arcobaleno pulled down on the rim of his fedora to hide his smirk. "The pin key to your Vongola credit card. Now if you'll excuse me, Maman has drawn up a bath for me." He leapt off the desk and made his way to the door, but was stopped by Tsuna's shout.

"Wait—Reborn! What do you mean this is the pin key? You already told it to me!" He glanced down at the paper then waved it in the air. "And this one is different!"

Reborn gave a small chuckle. "Don't be silly, Dame-Tsuna. I made a mistake and the pin I gave you before was old. Probably about five years old. The Vongola Family changes the pin regularly. Can't chance someone figuring it out on their own now, can we? Ciao."

The door slammed, leaving a horrified Tsuna all by himself. Tsuna raised the piece of paper to his face with trembling hands. Then his knees gave out and he collapsed back on his bed. It . . . it couldn't be true—could it? There's no _way_ Reborn could . . .

Tsuna shook his head. In situations like this, it was best to forget about the whole thing if he wanted to stay sane. Reborn was always messing with his mind, so there was no point in succumbing to his twisted game.

Right?


End file.
